Mr. Pantalone has no crazy plans today.

Just as Arecino was pondering what Pantalone was planning, Pantalone finally revealed his answer and plan to Arecino.

"I know those things are meaningless to you and me, so how about we make a bet?"

"bet?"

Upon hearing this, Arecino's mind raced with countless thoughts before she looked at Pantalone and posed this question.

Seeing that Arecino had taken the bait, Pantalone looked at her and smiled, noticing the hint of confusion in her eyes.

"Do you remember what you once said to me? You told me that no matter what, you would always beat me. So, how about we make a bet?"

"Over the next few years, I will build an impregnable barrier with countless plans, in which I will hide my true purpose and that idea."

"Let's see if my plan succeeds, or if you can expose my true plan before it's broken down."

"Would you dare to bet, Arecino?"

Pantalone's words were full of provocation, evident in his expression beneath that smile.

Undoubtedly, this was a deliberate attempt to guide her into accepting the bet, while also responding to her initial declaration of war against Pantalone.

Although she wasn't sure what Pantalone's reasons were, she didn't intend to ignore Pantalone's provocation, even if it was just Pantalone deliberately inducing her.

She didn't care what Pantalone's intentions were; as long as she could thwart Pantalone's plan, then whatever Pantalone's intentions were would be meaningless to her.

If that's the case, then what reason does she have to be wary of Pantalone?

Looking into Pantalone's defiant eyes, Arecino took a deep breath and sneered.

"If this is all you've got, then I guarantee you'll suffer a crushing defeat."

"Really? I look forward to seeing if you can do all of this."

Pantalone gave a noncommittal smile, revealing a meaningful expression.

Chapter 166 The Space Necromancer Project and the Snowfield Engineering Project (4k)

Shortly after Pantalone and Alegino reached a 'reconciliation,' the agreement between the two also signified a new beginning.

This meant that as their 'competition' officially began, a secret purge followed.

Among the vast majority of the Fools, the others could also sense the undercurrents beneath the seemingly calm surface, and some could vaguely detect the smell of gunpowder in the air.

Even the most ordinary Fools soldiers could sense the turmoil behind this secret purge. Hidden behind this purge, which did not alert anyone, was the product of a power struggle among those at the top.

This outcome is actually the result of a compromise between Pantalone and Arecino after they made a pact with each other and paid a price for each other.

However, compared to what he gained, Pantalone considered it a negligible price to pay.

From another perspective, this compromise actually coincided with what he originally wanted to do. On the surface, he was compromising with the Aletschino agreement, but in reality, he was using that name to carry out his own actions.

Pantalone's original plan to do this was carried out smoothly under this pretext, and he accomplished his task with almost no resistance.

This allowed him to achieve his goal without needing to create a pretext, and he also took advantage of this cleanup opportunity.

D'Artagnan also helped him get rid of a lot of troublesome guys, making his original plan go more smoothly, which allowed Pantalone to consider some other things and plans further.

In addition to a series of plans, including the 'Stigmata Project' which is regarded as the last insurance and the 'Eternal Return Project' which is conceived as an alternative plan, there are also a series of plans that have been formulated in the past.

Pantalone had devised countless plans to deal with the other solutions, but even after considering so many plans, he still didn't feel secure about them.

He understood that more plans were needed to ensure everything was in order, not only to conceal his true thoughts but also to establish a plan.

More importantly, when those plans fail at critical moments, these plans can be promptly adopted and put into practice to ensure that the plan will not fail under any circumstances.

Or perhaps he intends to ensure that, assuming all plans are guaranteed to fail, he always has a second layer of insurance.

In this respect, Arecino's assessment of him was indeed correct in a sense; the man named Pantalone was indeed a complete failure and pessimist.

He held a pessimistic attitude toward any plan, or rather, he assumed it from the beginning.

Given that this plan was bound to fail, Pantalone prepared a second insurance plan, and it was this idea that kept him constantly on the move.

He was always thinking about what plan he should devise if the previous plan failed, so that a second plan, as a safety net, could be implemented in time.

For this reason, even after Pantalone had devised the "Eternal Return Plan" to replace the "Stigmata Project," he did not believe that he could rest easy.

Although the idea of ​​the 'Eternal Return Plan' is perfect, making use of infinite time is equivalent to having an infinite number of trial and error plans.

Furthermore, the experience and techniques accumulated through these trials and errors can be preserved and inherited into the next 'cycle,' much like inheriting data in a game's second playthrough. Even so, Pantalone does not believe that this plan will necessarily succeed.

Or perhaps he understood from the beginning that there was a flaw in this seemingly perfect plan that could not be bypassed no matter what.

That is, even if theoretically an infinite number of restarts are possible, for the Teyvat world, such restarts are not infinite.

Compared to other worlds, Teyvat is not strictly speaking a complete world. In fact, the world they live in called Teyvat is on the verge of destruction.

The world of Teyvat is being destroyed; this is one of the hidden 'truths' behind the scenes of the Teyvat continent.

This destruction is unstoppable. The reason why the world of Teyvat has not been destroyed so far is because the original process of destruction was reversed, which is why the world of Teyvat has not faced the inevitable destruction it was destined to face.

However, this maintenance is not eternal or infinite; sooner or later, at some point in the future, this eternal dream bubble will shatter.

At that time, Teyvat will also face its destined destruction. So the 'Eternal Return Plan' seems perfect, but the limit of this plan is the moment when the world of Teyvat can no longer hold on.

If there is no way to arrive before the destruction of Teyvat to resolve everything, then even the 'Eternal Return Plan', which can be repeated an infinite number of times, will only lead to inevitable destruction behind this seemingly perfect plan.